Argentina, for so long, had just given it to him and prayed, pleading for divine intervention.
For some, Lionel Messi is God, but the magic man himself has previously rebuffed such metaphysical comparisons. “I think it’s very exaggerated to call me that [God],” he once said. The Argentine superstar is currently embarking on a potentially legacy-cementing World Cup campaign in Qatar, with his country progressing into the round of 16 as Group C winners following a comfortable 2-0 victory over Poland in their final group encounter.
The performance and subsequent result epitomised why the latest iteration of La Albiceleste entered the tournament as one of the favourites. No longer are they utterly reliant on their magnificent protagonist for salvation, as Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez atoned for Messi’s penalty miss against the Poles.
Despite his woes from 12 yards, this was yet another performance out of Leo’s twilight vintage. The 35-year-old’s invincibility cloak is dissipating somewhat, but he remains the most imperious performer on the pitch for Argentina. Watching him go about his work in the most serene, unbothered manner is enlightening; Messi is the ultimate manifestation of supreme individualism whose brilliance has forever failed to compromise the collective.
Lionel Messi keeps ‘The Beautiful Game’ beautiful
As the modern game drifts further and further into systemization, Messi stands almost alone in championing the expressionism of yesteryear – a time when trequartisti filled calcio adorers with joy and Pablo Aimar was inspiring the next generation of Argentinian playmakers, including La Albiceleste’s captain. Emphasis on efficient pressing systems amid German football’s reawakening has taken some of the beauty out of ‘the beautiful game’, with its greatest proponent of romance, the number ten, enduring a sudden death.
Football’s individual/collective dichotomy reminds me of the scene in Dead Poets Society when Robin Williams’ Mr. Keating summons his class and says: “Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, romance, love, beauty? These are what we stay alive for!” If anyone considered remaking the all-time classic in a footballing context (*cough* Netflix *cough*), perhaps Keating’s wonderful quote would sound something like this: “Pressing, build-up patterns, sustained pressure, these are key concepts and necessary to winning football matches. But ingenuity, innovation, freedom, skill? These are why we fell in love with the game!”
Kids don’t grow up fantasising over pressing schemes, it’s the individual, off-the-cuff genius that cultivates admiration and pulls on the heartstrings from day one. Davis Foster Wallace adds in Roger Federer as Religious Experience, an essay published in the New York Times, that “great athletes seem to catalyze our awareness of how glorious it is to touch and perceive, move through space, interact with matter.” While that Swiss tennis virtuoso was as slick as they come, there’s not – and nor has there ever been – an athlete on the planet that encapsulates Wallace’s sentiment more than Messi, who has astonished the world with his levels of performance since he burst onto the scene – Micah Richards style – almost two decades ago.
The importance of Copa America
Messi’s legacy will not be altered or defined by Argentina’s success in his fifth and final World Cup. His place among the pantheon of sporting greats is already secure, but naysayers – including some Argentinians – have questioned his status as the greatest footballer of all time due to his lack of success with the national team. That was his one black mark. Pele has three Jules Rimets in his back pocket, Diego Maradona spearheaded Argentina’s 1986 World Cup triumph, while Cristiano Ronaldo galvanised an unfancied Portuguese side to victory at Euro 2016 despite barely featuring in the final. Messi’s Argentina, meanwhile, had failed time and time again when it mattered most.
That’s what made their 2021 Copa America triumph so cathartic. It released the shackles and somewhat eased the pressure on Messi heading into this World Cup: he had replicated the success of his great contemporary rival, but the shadow of Maradona and ’86 still looms large. This is his last chance to get ahold of the prize his career deserves. While undoubtedly more significant on a global scale, it would be his answer to Michael Jordan’s sequence at the end of the 1998 NBA Finals or Tom Brady’s miraculous comeback in Super Bowl 51: moments and performances that ascended their greatness into an impenetrable realm.
It may well be too good to be true, but Argentina’s journey thus far points towards something magical occurring. A stunning defeat at the hands of Herve Renard’s fearless Saudi Arabia on Matchday 1 could’ve thrown their campaign into disarray, but Mexico made the grave error of handing Argentina’s number ten an inch of space on the edge of their penalty area – cue the Peter Drury x Ludovico Einaudi’s Experience edits.
Perhaps we’ll look back on Messi’s pinpoint effort beyond Guillermo Ochoa as the momentum shifter Argentina so desperately needed amid their rise to World Cup glory. They’ve since performed with the sort of control and security that would suggest they’re poised for a deep run at the tournament. Should their Messi-inspired momentum continue into the knockouts, Argentina will be expected to beat Australia in the round of 16 and the winners of the Netherlands vs USA tie in the last eight. Then, oh boy, it could be Brazil. Don’t even get me started on a potential match-up with Ronaldo in the final.
Oh, how naive we all are to begin mapping out routes to the final! Has this bonkers World Cup not taught us anything?! Predictions are futile.
Scaloni’s coherent Albiceleste will be leaning on the divinity of Messi’s left boot to avoid another upset and ensure his journey continues up until the last. Twists and turns akin to a sequence of Leo virtuosity will undoubtedly ensue, and the variance of this sport we adore could eventually compromise Messi’s dream. We simply don’t know what’s going to play out, but that’s what makes this tournament so special.
Yet Messi remains humble
While his impressive supporting cast will perpetually seek their skipper in times of strife, the man himself, fully aware of his genius, will seek out a higher power to steer him towards his ultimate goal. “It was God who made me play like this,” Messi said in 2021. “Obviously he [God] gave me that gift, I have no doubt about that. He chose me and, obviously, I then did everything possible to try to improve myself and achieve success,” he added. The Argentine’s attribution of his mastery to an all-encompassing entity beyond the comprehension of us mortals typifies the humility that’s followed him around his entire career.
Such humility, according to David R. Hawkins in Power vs Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behaviour, is “the hallmark of true greatness in athletic achievement”, and that’s why football’s universal inner child is desperate to see a jubilant Messi in Doha exactly a week before Christmas.
Argentina’s number ten was quick to remind his teammates that “coincidences don’t exist” ahead of the 2021 Copa America final, but his childlike purity would suggest that he might be one for a Qatari fairytale.
James Cormack has been the managing editor of the popular Arsenal site “Pain in the Arsenal” for three years and was previously a managing editor of Old Juve, covering Juventus. He has written about world football for 90min since 2019. James has a vast wealth of expertise in covering the Premier League and Serie A.